Seasonal Digest

The 1831-32 season opened on 3 October 1831, less than a week after that of the
English Opera Company. The writer for the Athenæum noted "the constant
occupation by the English Opera Company has prevented any novelty in the way of decoration;
but the house does not appear to need it" (24 September 1831, p. 621).
Indeed, the conditions of the theatre seem to have had very little bearing on its
popularity, for this was to become one of the Adelphi's most successful seasons.
The company performed 27 plays for a total 212 performances. Although it was
rumored during the season that Charles Mathews was negotiating to sell his share of
the Adelphi to Mr. Liston (Theatrical Observer, 14 December 1831), nothing
came of this arrangement, and Mathews remained in partnership with Frederick Yates.

The highlight of the Adelphi's 1831-32 season was John Buckstone's melodrama, Victorine;
or, I'll Sleep on It, which delighted audiences and critics alike, running for
ninety performances. This moral tale focused on a woman who, faced with the
choice of two suitors, goes to sleep and dreams about what her life might be like
if she married the less desirable of the two. The Spectator announced
in a review reprinted by the Adelphi management "the idea is good, the acting
is as near perfection as may be, and the effect is excellent." The Morning
Herald exclaimed, "the scenery and appointments can be exceeded by none."
The Times concurred, saying, "the whole piece has been got up with great
care" (19 October 1831). Most attention focused on Elizabeth Yates' performance
as Victorine, which was labeled "realistic" and "perfect" by the
critics. The descriptions of her acting note its truth and effectiveness; the
Athenæum called it "the most real exhibition now on the stage"
(17 December 1831, p. 821). These accolades explain why historian Westland Marston
called Mrs. Yates "clearly one of the forerunners of realism" (Our Recent
Actors, Vol. 1, p. 20).

Another highly successful offering that October
was a burlesque called Hyder Ali; or, The Lions of Mysore. The piece
parodied a controversial melodrama by the same name, concurrently playing at Drury
Lane, which involved wild animals. The Times reported on 27 October 1831,
"Mr. Yates was in treaty with the pantomime actor (M. Martin), for himself and
his beasts, before there was any notion of bringing them out upon a stage supposed
to be dedicated to the legitimate drama, and...the higher prices offered by the proprietor
of the Drury Lane put an end to the negotiation." Yates' response was to
have his resident playwright, John Buckstone, construct a burlesque of the popular
piece. Critics and audiences loved the show; the Athenæum commented that
the actors' impersonation of the wild animals promised "to be more profitable
and less expensive than the real ones...It is a most amusing parody on the others"
(29 October 1831, p. 708). Only one person went on record as having disapproved
of the Adelphi production. Charles Mathews told the Parliamentary Select Committee
on Dramatic Literature that he had not consented to it and that "it should not
have been done if I had been present" (Mathews, Memoirs of Charles Mathews,
Comedian, IV, 489).

In addition to these two successes, Buckstone contributed
five other plays to the Adelphi's repertory that season. He "was principally
engaged at the Haymarket [as a comic actor, but] all his more ambitious plays were
for the Adelphi" wrote Maurice Disher in Blood and Thunder (p. 220).
Buckstone suited his plays to the talents of the Adelphi Company, with leading male
roles for Frederick Yates, leading female roles for Elizabeth Yates, secondary female
roles for Fanny Fitzwilliam, and comic roles for himself and John Reeve. Frank
Rahill writes in The World of Melodrama "plays everywhere...were written
more or less with the special talents of particular companies in mind...but the practice
of carpentering pieces to a company was developed to a higher degree at the Adelphi
than elsewhere" (p. 166). This perhaps explains why so many of the pieces
met with such great acclaim.

In addition to the triumphs of Elizabeth Yates
and John Buckstone, the 1831-32 season featured the debut of Madame Céline Céleste,
the French actress who would later manage the Adelphi. Her first appearance
was as Hope Gough in William Bernard's The Wept of the Wish-Ton-Wish.
It was a non-speaking role. Although the play received indifferent reviews,
Mme. Céleste was praised for her dancing and stage-fighting abilities. The Theatrical
Observer said she "displayed some fine specimens of expressive gesticulation"
(23 November 1831), hinting at the actress' future success on the Adelphi stage.

Scenery and spectacle, designed by Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Pitt, merited special attention
during this season. Robert Le Diable, the result of a collaboration by
Fitzball, Buckstone, and the composer, Giacomo Meyerbeer, received great praise for
its tableaux vivants, which were "most beautifully arranged, generally admired
and greatly applauded" (Athenæum, 28 January 1832, p. 68). The scenery
for The Forgery; or, The Reading of the Will by Buckstone included reproductions
of two paintings.

The Examiner reported on 11 March 1832:

Two scenes were greatly admired:
the first was a realization of Wilkie's "Village Politicians," the other
of his "Reading of the Will"; both were very good—the latter, indeed, was
most excellent; it could not have been so well done on any larger stage; the characters
exactly filled the scene in most perfect grouping...the artist has reason to be satisfied
with the arrangement of the manager. He has done ample justice to his original.

Finally, a burlesque called The Printer's Devil; or, A Type of
the Old One, presented in March 1832, was "based on Hogarth's 'The Idle Apprentice,'"
according to Martin Meisel Realizations, p. 116. He notes this would not have
been the case if not for the talents of Tompkins, and Meisel notes "the Adelphi
was the theatre most given to the embodiment of illustrative fiction as pictorial
drama" (p. 251).

The Adelphi season of 1831-32 closed with benefits for
Elizabeth Yates (5 April 1832) and John Reeve (12 April 1832). The bill for
the latter date indicates that this was a command performance since it features the
Royal Coat of Arms. Charles Mathews presented his Comic Annual of 1833
during May, June, and July, once again garnering critical acclaim. The final
performance at the Adelphi this season was the 7 August benefit for the widow and
children of John Isaacs, featuring four plays that were not part of the regular Adelphi
repertory and several actors from other companies.

AK

Daily Calendar for 1831-1832

3 October 1831
Monday Evening
Adelphi

3 October 1831
playbill
New York Public Library

1) The Sea Serpent; or, The Wizard of the Winds! (1)

Title Comment: 1st time ever; "Founded on a Norwegian superstition" (bill)

Céleste, Mme. Céline (c1810/11–1882) Born in Paris and studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1827, she made her first professional appearance at the Bowery Theatre, New York. At age of 18, she married Henry Elliott of Baltimore, with whom she had a daughter. Elliott died soon after the marriage. In 1830, she moved to England where she played mute parts, which allowed her to conceal her halting English.

"Theatre Royal, Adelphi, Thursday Afternoon, 4 O'Clock, The public is most respectfully
informed that in consequence of the sudden indisposition of Mrs. Yates, The Wreck
Ashore will be performed instead of Victorine" (ann)

6 January 1832
Friday Evening
Adelphi

6 January 1832
playbill
New York Public Library

1) The Wreck Ashore [; or, A Bridegroom from the Sea] (20)

Performances: First 3 October 1831; Previous 5 January 1832; Next 7 January 1832